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SOTA c35s02
Text The night was deep and dark, and even the light from the stars above seemed muted. Light glowed silently inside empty homes, made them more appealing targets, mimicked the sensation of life and warmth as shadows played strangely here and there. But this entire section of the Crystal Kingdom was soundless, even as the shield of energy that protected this miniature empire pulsed with ever-shifting, rippling radiance. All around the edge of the district, Royal Guard in golden armor laid in wait, breathing slowly: they were all ready to respond in a moment's notice, every Pegasus armed with a crossbow, every unicorn with their magic already prepared. Not a single one of them would relax until dawn came, as Shining Armor paced slowly in heavy, purple full plate mail, while Princess Celestia only sat calmly in the middle of the only street that hadn't been sealed off by barricades of steel and gemstone. A small table was beside her, a tea set resting over this; she sipped from a small, porcelain cup slowly, keeping herself calm and relaxed as her eyes roved measuringly over the platoon of soldiers that lined the street in front of her. The Emerald Garden took its name from the enormous square in the center of the district: a wide rectangle lined with beautiful, glimmering pines and all manner of gorgeous flowers, and growing in the very center an immense tree that stretched high into the sky, wrapped in all manner of flowering vine and ivy. Its wide-spread boughs formed a natural watchtower, and the Twilight from another layer sat on top of this, her gemstone vest locked tightly over her body, her cloak flowing silently around her. The others were positioned around the square, ready to move in once the signal was detected. The shield that surrounded the Crystal Kingdom has been supercharged with energy, and with the ominous wood and barbwire barricades that had been raised all along the eastern side as well, visible through the glowing radiance, it would hopefully force the enemy to go right towards the purposeful hole left in their defenses: a large wooden archway they had quickly built, where the energy shield flowed around instead of over, and was held shut only by a flimsy wooden gate. A wooden gate the enemy would have to smash down... and in doing so, would trigger the trap. It seemed perfect: sure, there were a thousand things that could go wrong, but at the same time, something inside Twilight Sparkle told her that the enemy was going to trigger their trap, just as planned. After that, who knew what would happen, what they would be up against, but they would at least have the advantage of surprise and starting things out on their own terms. Inside, the ponies watched... and outside, through the flurry of snow, a shape approached. A bulky, enormous shape that flexed against steel and stitching, gurgling quietly now and then; masculine and huge and tortured, he giggled brokenly as drool dripped down from his jaws, and he rasped out: “Not heeding the words of his parents, he cried out: 'timberwolf, timberwolf!' and thrilled as the villagers came running and panicking...” The creature giggled again, eyes roving along the barrier as a bit of drool fell from his jaws, approaching the energy shield slowly before mashing into it... and growling in frustration, scrabbling at it with his claws as he found it was solid. He pawed at it uncertainly, trying to process what was going on, his broken mind carefully connecting the pieces of what to do next as he looked back and forth and whispered: “He thought it was all good fun... until the day the timberwolves really came, and oh, oh, oh, he cried and screamed and begged and no one came, no pony came, down down down their gullet he fell...” A twitch, and then the creature's dark violet eyes gleamed before he hurriedly began to lope along the shield, not seeming to notice the snow or wind that blew into his features before he stumbled to a halt as he saw a wooden archway, turning and mashing face-first into a flimsy gate before staggering backwards, then looking up with what seemed more like curiosity and confusion than anything else. He stepped forwards again, head shoving against the gate, pushing it backwards with a creak and making the doors strain to hold shut, before the beast was repelled again, and he growled in frustration and confusion before simply raising both forelegs and shoving viciously outwards into this thing that bent and moved but wouldn't let him pass. The rune-covered wooden board that had been barring the doors snapped, and when it did, it all-but-exploded with a scream of sound, and the creature immediately scurried backwards with a series of terrified yelps, jumping back into the snow and burying himself down with a whimper, despite the fact that the enormous Clockwork Pony stood out as clearly as a mountain even in the darkness, a giant black and metal shape against the white. Then, slowly, he rose carefully to all fours, and rumbled uneasily as he began forwards, whispering: “Once upon a time, Mommy and Daddy wished for a baby, and hearing their mournful cries, a fairy visited them in the night...” The creature strode slowly through the open gate, looking uneasily back and forth as a bit of drool fell from his maw, breathing heavily through his open mouth. He shifted back and forth uneasily, then licked his lips slowly before beginning to cross the square. His broken mind could barely remember his purpose here, the mission he had been given by the Master, but he struggled to do so as he looked back and forth around the street, not noticing the way it had all been fortified, or how the fences on either side formed a corridor he began to walk down in an awkward zigzag, grinding his face or side into the wood every now and then as he mumbled: “Cabbage... it was a cabbage... Mommy and Daddy went out to their garden, and found a foal, not cabbage...” He strode into the square in the center of the district, looking back and forth with a rumble before his eyes slowly drew upwards. His violet eyes almost glowed as the saw the bad pony at the top of a tree, a burning black beacon in his vision, and his drooling jaws fell open before he remembered why he was here, why the Master had sent him, and he looked at the bad pony and the bad pony looked back at him- Twilight's eyes widened in shock as the Clockwork Pony she recognized all too clearly as Cheshire simply vanished from sight, and the Lich hurriedly leaned forwards, her hooves crunching quietly against the bark as she looked back and forth sharply. Had he seen her somehow? For a moment, she could swear that their eyes had locked, even though she had to be at least thirty feet above the ground and he had been all the way by the gate, but now she couldn't see him anywhere... The Lich felt Luna's surprise as well, heard her mental question, and she began to respond before her eyes widened as she felt something on the back of her neck. And, slowly, Twilight turned with a tremble to stare over her shoulder, seeing a grinning set of teeth and glowing eyes floating in the darkness just behind her, before the rest of the monster faded into reality as he whispered: “Baa-baa, black sheep... have you any wool?” Twilight felt herself torn between fight-or-flight, both instincts screaming at her before Cheshire roared and lunged, and the Lich threw herself backwards with a cry before the monster's jaws bit savagely into her shoulder, almost crushing it as he tackled her off the top of the tree. She cried out in shock more than pain before snarling as they fell, her wings spreading before she forced herself to half-spin, flinging the beast off as she managed to catch the air and felt his teeth rip through her flesh. Cheshire was thrown straight down into the ground in a spray of blood, crashing down on his back with a yelp and bouncing several times over the grassy field before rolling quickly backwards. He snarled as he spun around, eyes glowing with lunacy and animal instinct before his gaze locked on a golden-armored winged unicorn as she calmly landed on one side of the square, massive sword gleaming as it spun off her back and into a ready position at her side. Celestia stood at the ready as the monster charged towards her with a roar, and she shook her head slowly at the straight, direct attack before simply raising Tyrfing and slamming it down savagely enough to crush Cheshire flat, his limbs going out in an almost comical sprawl before she twisted the sword and stabbed it fiercely downwards, pinning the monster to the ground like a bug. Cheshire squealed in agony, black mire bursting up out of its body as he began to scrabble and claw at the earth, and Celestia began to turn to call to Luna before a soft voice commented: “Remarkable skill. Yes, it's too bad we are not allies... but maybe we will be soon enough.” The ivory mare's eyes widened in shock as she looked to the side to see an enormous black earth pony standing calmly beside her, his eyes calm white, silvery machine parts standing out along his spine. Even as her mind processed that this could only be Thesis himself, the Replicant behind everything, he was already swinging a hoof towards her... and she was already moving to block the blow with one foreleg. She glared at him, forelimb shuddering slightly at the force of contact, but he only smiled before Celestia's eyes widened as he seized her leg and then flung her viciously upwards, and the golden mare was horrified by the strength of the creature as she was launched into the air in a wild whirl. She barely managed to flap her wings to catch herself in mid-spin, looking down sharply... but Thesis was already gone, and before the ivory mare could think of trying to chase him, her attention was drawn with horror to the sight of Cheshire slowly yanking himself backwards, screaming and howling as the undying creature tore itself slowly free from Tyrfing, black blood gushing out of the monster but the massive tear in his body healing almost as quickly as it was made. Scrivener and Luna, meanwhile, had been halted in mid-charge when Thesis seemed to appear out of thin air in front of them, reaching up and catching them both by the head with a smile. They were left paralyzed and defenseless for a moment, but then the Clockwork Pony simply let them go and said with patronizing kindness: “Let's test your mettle, shall we? There's an immensely-powerful source of energy at the center of this place... let's see if you can stop me from claiming it.” With that, Thesis turned and began to run, and Scrivener and Luna traded shocked looks before surprise turned to fury, and they both launched themselves after the Replicant: a moment later, they were joined by Twilight Sparkle, the Lich falling into pace with them even as she asked sharply: “What about Celestia?” “Celestia can deal with a monster! We must stop Thesis!” Luna replied, her eyes glowing with rage and mane sparking, body flexing against her armor as her horn glowed and tore her spear free from where it was sheathed at her side. “How dare the arrogant monster challenge us so!” Twilight nodded, even as she tossed a grim look over her shoulder, catching sight of Celestia smashing Cheshire backwards with Tyrfing as the monster tried to pounce on her. The Lich only hoped that they were right, and that with her unmatched mind, Celestia would be able to figure out a way to stop that awful monstrosity... Cheshire roared as he slashed in wildly with his broken claws, and Celestia parried the attacks with her sword, snarling before she snapped her head forwards and blasted the monster backwards again with telekinesis. The Clockwork Pony's regeneration was unbelievable: she hadn't been able to believe the stories that Luna had told about fighting the creature, even with Scrivener backing her up, but now that she was actually witnessing it herself... The monster lunged at her, and Celestia slashed Tyrfing downwards before her eyes widened as Cheshire caught the blade: immediately, she sawed the sword upwards, but even as blood burst from his claws and one was torn almost entirely off, the creature only leaned forwards and screamed: “And never in as never does and never to the end, never shall this wounded heart ever ever mend!” He bit at her features savagely, and Celestia cursed, straining with telekinesis to push as hard back on the sword as she could, trying to keep it at a distance even as he wrestled the floating blade and forced it slowly down and away, completely ignoring the rivers of blood flowing from his claws before Celestia snarled and snapped her horn forwards. Crescents of golden flame erupted through the air around Cheshire's face, making him yelp and shake his head wildly back and forth before the golden fire solidified into three golden, double-edged short swords that all stabbed viciously forwards, all three ripping through the monster's face and skull. Cheshire howled miserably and threw himself backwards, Celestia staggering before spinning Tyrfing quickly up to a ready position again as the beast lunged back and forth, grabbing wildly at the swords buried through its face. And the ivory mare could only watch with a shiver as he grasped the handle of one, and amidst whimpers and shrieks, slowly yanked it free from his head with a burst of dark mire, before flinging it aside and roaring furiously at her. Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight Sparkle all heard the sound, but they couldn't turn back, couldn't stop, couldn't even slow: Thesis had just smashed his way through an entire unit of soldiers, and he bore not a single scratch, not a sign of fatigue. He was running straight down the center of the road, where Princess Celestia was still calmly waiting, head raised proudly and horn glowing before Shining Armor leapt into the Clockwork Pony's path and gritted his teeth, a barrier of magic erupting into being- Thesis simply passed through the barrier like it was thin air, and Shining Armor had enough time to stare in disbelief before the Clockwork Pony crushed both front hooves down into his skull, leapfrogging onto his back before neatly launching off him like a springboard, shooting straight at Celestia. And with that same calm, maddening expression, the Clockwork Pony seized the Princess of the Sun around the neck before she could react to the sudden burst of speed, before flipping his body to yank her rolling through the air before he threw her face-first into the hard street. The mare bounced helplessly once, then cried out in agony when Thesis landed on her back, crushing her spine and the warped wing hidden beneath her cape, and Luna roared in outrage as she leapt into the air and flapped her wings hard, putting on a burst of speed to slash her spear out at Thesis. But the Clockwork Pony vanished, in a blink a short distance away up the street as he called calmly: “Now you'll have to do better than that, Valkyrie Brynhild. I'm disappointed.” Luna snarled furiously as Scrivener, then dove back to the street past the fallen Princess Celestia and sprinted onwards, Scrivener and Twilight both pushing themselves harder to catch up to the sapphire mare as her starry mane and tail streaked behind her, burning like blue fire with her fury. But Thesis only smiled calmly as he turned to continue down the street towards the spire in the center of the Crystal Kingdom, clearly unhindered and unworried. Catching up to him, stopping him, was beginning to seem impossible even through the haze of battlerage blurring Luna's thoughts... just as Celestia was beginning to wonder whether or not Cheshire was indestructible, as Tyrfing lashed back and forth across the Clockwork Pony while her three golden blades stabbed viciously forwards again and again, twisting the smaller swords every time they found purchase in the monster's flesh. The ground was covered in black mire as Cheshire continued to stagger helplessly backwards, screaming and howling as the mare continued the vicious barrage of attacks before she roared as she suddenly swept as hard upwards as she dared, staggering backwards from the force of the attack and almost losing her psychic grip on Tyrfing as the Clockwork Pony was decapitated in one powerful slice. Cheshire's head screamed miserably as it flew in one direction, and his body collapsed in another with a gurgle, hitting the ground with a wet, sickening smack. Celestia breathed hard, her three golden swords floating apprehensively above the beast's body, Tyrfing falling to clank to the ground beside her before she stared in disbelief down at the monster's severed head. Cheshire was gurgling, mouthing words wildly as his eyes rolled in his head, a thick, ugly river of black mire spilling out of his neck... just as from between his shoulders, another river of the stuff was pumping endlessly, his legs twitching weakly now and then, his large, bulky chest contracting and expanding with gasping, whooping breaths. Celestia didn't even know what to make of this godawful sight, as her eyes roved weakly back and forth between the two somehow-still-alive parts of the creature, before some signal went off in her mind, something tried to warn her, but she couldn't comprehend it clearly with the shock in her system... And then her amethyst eyes widened as she looked down in time to see the trails of mire pumping out of both ends of the creature's neck clearly twist, becoming one S-shaped river of dark blood before thick strings of black ooze leapt up between severed head and shoulders. They became taut, solid cables and black ropes before Cheshire screamed as his head was yanked backwards, pulled back into place with a sickening splatter as the Clockwork Pony skittered backwards and then grabbed wildly at his face as ragged flesh rapidly healed, the monster whimpering loudly as he cowered away from Celestia. “What in Loki's name...” whispered a voice, and Discord appeared on one side of Celestia as Discombobulation popped into existence on the other, both Draconequus staring with disbelief at Cheshire as Celestia only breathed heavily in and out, shivering. “Puppy... what is going on here?” “And here I was hoping you would know, big dog, you're the one who was all but god of chaos back in Ginnungagap.” Discombobulation muttered, before he winced when Cheshire looked slowly up with his tormented, insane purple eyes. “Tia, we better go, we better-” “No, you go, I'm going to stop this thing one way or another.” Celestia shook her head, gritting her teeth as her horn began to glow, even as she raised Tyrfing and her three smaller swords into defensive positions in front of her. “I'll dismember it completely. Then burn it apart.” Cheshire roared furiously: whether only because he had recovered, or because he could understand, it was impossible to say. But a moment later, he charged savagely forwards, heading straight for Celestia... before Discombobulation winced even as he stepped in front of the monster and slammed his metallic fist down into his face, knocking Cheshire flat with a yelp before the chimerical creature stomped a foot, and the ground blasted upwards like a springboard, launching the Clockwork Pony through the air with a scream to crash down at the south end of the square. Celestia smiled faintly, and Discord gaped over at Discombobulation, who shrugged and said finally: “Love is stupid.” “Yeah, I can see that. Okay, puppy, you and your honeybun deal with that thing, I'm going to go get help. Lots of help. From somewhere else.” Discord said awkwardly, holding up a finger before he vanished from sight, and Discombobulation grumbled as Celestia only smiled faintly up at the male. “Now stop that. We can figure things out later. For now... it would look bad if I left you to die, Tia, that's all.” Discombobulation muttered, and then he winced as Cheshire picked himself up, screaming and shaking himself wildly, and the chimerical creature winced as Celestia readied herself again and looked forwards. “My mommy always said there were no monsters... no real ones... but there are.” Cheshire staggered around to face them, snarling, and then he screamed almost as if in reply: “Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at my door!” The monster broke into a charge, and Celestia gritted her teeth before Discombobulation snapped his fingers, and an explosion of green lightning and fire ripped through the air around Cheshire, the crackle of sound swallowing up the shriek of surprise from the beast. But a moment later, Cheshire leapt out of the emerald blast before it could even begin to dissipate, and Discombobulation's eyes widened in shock as the monster dove straight towards him. He swung his metal claw up, but far too late: Cheshire's front claws ripped down his chest, knocking him backwards with a howl of pain before the Clockwork Pony's huge, gnarled jaws seized on his flesh-and-blood wrist, and the Draconequus was yanked backwards and to the side, arm torn out of his socket as one of Cheshire's gnarled claws stomped on him to pin him down at the same time, the monster beginning to twist- Tyrfing smashed into the monster's side, and he shrieked and staggered before Celestia launched all three of her short swords at Cheshire: one sank into his shoulder, while another tore across his scalp and ripped up a swathe of mane, but the last only bounced off his scaly hide before the beast turned its attention to the mare, slashing wildly at the golden-armored pony and ripping gouges in the front of her armor even as she cursed and threw herself backwards. Tyrfing lashed down, almost cutting the top of the monster's skull in half, but Cheshire only roared and lunged forwards, knocking the sword backwards as the wound healed and he slashed outwards again, this time managing to smash his claw into Celestia's breastplate and dent it, knocking her off balance. Before she could recover, the beast seized her by the shoulder and yanked himself forwards, and Celestia howled in agony as his teeth ripped through her plate mail like it was paper, biting deep into the junction of shoulder and neck before it twisted to the side like an animal, slamming her down on her side as he tried to pin her by the face and one foreleg. His jaws opened wide to deliver a deathblow, but Celestia managed to stab awkwardly sideways with Tyrfing on desperation, getting the weapon between her and the monster, and his maw clamped only onto this. He bit wildly and uselessly at the sword, howling and roaring before shaking his head violently back and forth, ripping it free from Celestia's psychic grip before he staggered backwards off the winged unicorn and slung Tyrfing off to the side. The mare managed to half-roll, half-stagger to her hooves with a curse, dragging herself backwards and snarling as her horn glowed, seizing on the short sword still buried in Cheshire's shoulder and yanking it free. But before she could drive it into the monster's body again, Cheshire lunged, tackling her onto her back and crushing her down into the ground, lifting her by her damaged plate and then slamming her onto her back wildly, then again, again and again. His jaws bit down, and Celestia barely managed to swing a hoof up, smashing a hook across the monster's muzzle and sending up a burst of black mire as a tooth was knocked from his maw, the Clockwork Pony shrieking before Celestia desperately seized the creature and rolled on top of the massive, bulky beast, trying to pin him beneath her as she began to slam punch after punch down into his face, holding him down by the throat with her other foreleg. Cheshire howled beneath her, convulsing and kicking wildly before his claws finally raked up and smashed her off, knocking her crashing down on her side before he attempted to scramble forwards and jump on top of her again. They rolled and struggled against each other, Celestia desperately avoiding his monstrous jaws, Cheshire screaming and howling and hissing. And Discombobulation could only watch with a curse as he slowly staggered up to his feet, one arm hanging limp and useless, his prosthetic claw flexing slowly as he raised it before glancing to the side as Discord appeared with a grimace. “Puppy, I hope you have some miracle up that metal sleeve of yours.” Discombobulation opened his mouth, looking towards Celestia... and then he gritted his teeth before turning his eyes to Discord, holding up his metallic claw as he began to concentrate and green lightning started to spark around his prosthetic digits, a sphere of emerald energy slowly swirling into being in his palm. “I have something that's half stolen, half pure crazy dumb hope, but I need all the power you can give me, big dog.” “Betting stupid luck against certain death? I like it.” Discord replied with a wry grin, and his own mismatched hands began to glow as he began to swirl them over the claw, almost as if molding a sphere, as the energy began to glow brighter and green lightning began to spark up and down the length of the metal limb. Discombobulation gritted his teeth, dropping to a ready position even as he kept his hand raised high, his body flexing as he continued to push all the energy he could down into the charged sphere above his hand, and Discord bit his lip and narrowed his eyes in concentration as they both worked to keep some form of wild order to their own swirling chaos. Lightning arced and streaked in all directions as a distinct humming filled the air, the green energy pulsing brighter and brighter as Discombobulation prayed for Celestia to hold on just a little longer as she managed to get the top position again. Celestia snarled through the blood flowing down her face as she pinned Cheshire by the throat, her horn glowing brightly as the monster's head burst into golden flames, the creature screaming and squealing before he managed to hook a kick up into her stomach. She was knocked backwards with a grunt, then she cried out in agony as Cheshire slammed his burning features into hers, scalding her with her own golden flames before the monster's claw grabbed her by the mane, yanking her off and slamming her onto her side. He pounced on top of her, a claw seizing her skull and ramming her head back into the ground once, then twice. The world became blurred and dim, and Celestia's body went limp as Cheshire pinned her down, drool falling onto her face as the creature grinned and raved brokenly in his victory: “I ask you to turn this w-weakness into strength, this pain into comfort, sorrow into... joy, joy... joy! Pain into comfort... for... others!” His jaws began to open, and Celestia was only aware of that gaping, endless maw above her, before a second sensation tingled at her senses; a humming, a buzzing, shortly joined by the tremor-sound of feet charging over the ground. Then Cheshire looked up in dumb surprise, straightening and gaping like a wild animal caught in the glare of an oncoming train. Discombobulation was sprinting towards them, his metallic arm a glowing torch of green fire and lightning, clutching a sphere of glowing chaos energy in his smoldering metallic claw. His eyes blazed, his teeth bared as he shouted furiously: “Get your filthy claws off my girlfriend!” The Draconequus slammed his claw forwards as hard as he could, driving the sphere of energy into Cheshire's side as it sparked and the monster's eyes bulged... and then both it and Discombobulation were both blown backwards in a tremendous shockwave of lightning and emerald flame, Celestia crushed down into the ground with a gasp by the wave of pressure even as most of the force thankfully passed above her. Windows shattered all around the square from the blast of force, and even from twenty feet away, Discord was knocked off his feet with a yelp of surprise, as Discombobulation was flung backwards from the blast to crash down with a gargle, his whole body smoldering and what little that remained of his prosthetic limb tearing free from his charred shoulder, nothing now but a wrecked hunk of broken metal. Cheshire struck the ground and rolled limply backwards several times, coming to a halt on his side, eyes staring sightlessly as black blood drooled from his jaws. He lay twitching weakly and brokenly, an enormous, almost-perfectly dome-shaped crater in his side, the black mire around the wound turned to dark gemstone from the force of the blast. The beast whimpered weakly once, and Celestia looked slowly, tiredly up as Discord winced and hurried over to Discombobulation, kicking him lightly once in the side... then sighing in relief when Bob groaned loudly and blinked blearily, the red-eyed Draconequus remarking: “I am so glad that I did not just contribute to your death.” Discombobulation only mumbled weakly, before slowly forcing himself to sit up as he grasped at his shoulder, breathing unevenly. He dropped his head forwards, swooning for a moment before managing to shake himself and return to his senses, and then he looked up... and smiled faintly at the sight of Celestia standing over him, the mare gazing down at him silently as their eyes met, before he simply nodded once, and she smiled with the faintest of trembles and nodded firmly back. She opened her mouth... but then her attention was drawn sharply over her shoulder by a loud moan, and she stared in horror as black mire blasted suddenly into the air like a geyser from Cheshire's caved-in side, sending chunks of crystallized mire flying in all direction before the monster screamed and convulsed on the ground as his wounded side filled quickly in with the dark ooze. And moments later, the beast staggered up to his claws, gasping and panting, his side looking raw and dripping with mire, but otherwise whole. He rasped in and out, black tears leaking down his features before he looked over at the trio, and Discord winced even as he stepped forwards as Celestia snarled and lowered her head, and Discombobulation only stared weakly. Yet all three knew there was nothing they could do against this thing that just kept getting up, again and again and again... Cheshire screamed at them, then charged forwards, and Celestia dragged herself to her hooves as her horn glowed and she managed to spread her wings, ready to die fighting... before she stared in shock as the monster simply bolted past them, still screaming... no, not just screaming. Cheshire was giving heaving, howling sobs of misery through his shrieks as he staggered drunkenly back and forth, clearly making a run for the exit. He vanished down the street, and Celestia didn't even know what to do or say as she slumped a little... so instead, she only turned towards Discombobulation and stepped forwards, silently embracing him. The Draconequus dropped his head against her after a moment, reaching up with his arm to hug her back around the neck as Discord stared in disbelief over his shoulder, and then he looked at the two and asked nervously: “That just happened, right? I'm not dreaming, am I? And please tell me you two aren't doing the whole 'one romantic moment before we die' thing, because if you are, I'm going to vomit and then I'm going to cry.” “Go check on the others. We'll catch up when we can.” Celestia said quietly, and Discord looked at her moodily before the ivory mare glanced up with a small smile. “Please.” “Well, only because Princess Party Pooper never says that to me. Or never really means it, anyway.” Discord muttered, and then he nodded once before hesitating, then reaching down and ruffling Discombobulation's mane, making him scowl. “You did good, kid. Not as good as I would have done, but pretty good all the same.” With that, the Draconequus vanished from sight... and Discord stumbled a little as he reappeared a moment later on one of the high balconies of the spire that stood in the center of the Crystal Kingdom, grabbing the railing and leaning down as he muttered: “What a mess all this is. This is definitely not what I signed up for when I left Ginnungagap. This is all proving to be oh so much less fun than... yep, there's the other one. And the crazy ponies are right on his tail.” Discord leaned down with a grimace, shadowing his eyes and watching moodily for a moment, wondering silently what he could even do to help... before blinking in surprise as something nudged him quietly, and he turned to see Princess Luna looking up at him worriedly. The Draconequus winced, holding up his hands and grinding his teeth together before he said carefully: “Now hey there, Princess, this is no place for... well, anyone, really. I know, how about Uncle Discord takes you back to bed for a nice little nap, would you like that?” Princess Luna shook her head violently, trembling and bouncing back and forth on her hooves, looking agitated, before she rose one hoof and violently gestured at her horn. Discord only winced at this, however, shaking his head hurriedly and replying flatly: “Listen, I might enjoy a decent prank or two, and love a little chaos now and then, but I'm far from stupid enough to fall for that. Look, stay here, I'll go grab your big sister, okay? Okay?” Discord looked at her almost pleadingly, and when Princess Luna only looked back at him, trembling, the Draconequus groaned before grabbing at his face... then jumping as there was a loud bang and scream below, and he and Princess Luna both spun around and leaned over the railing, looking down to the courtyard with shock. Below, Thesis had come to a stop in the square, a calm smile on his face as Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight skidded to a halt several feet away, snarling and setting themselves. The Twilight Sparkle of this layer and her friends formed an uneasy barrier with Cadence, the ponies trembling at just the sight of this perfect-and-yet-synthetic stallion, Spike standing in front of them in his armor and with shield and sword at the ready, the dragon's features grim. The ground around Thesis was shattered, black smoke wafting slowly up through the air from several of these cracks as the Clockwork Pony laughed quietly, then smiled over at Luna Brynhild. “You shouldn't fret, Luna. I'll only hurt them if they get in my way... this remarkable source of energy should let me finish my work here with ease. Again, I don't want to hurt anyone... but how fantastic this artifact is, the way you've modified it... oh, I knew about the Crystal Heart, but I never thought it could be used for this level of magic...” “Stay away from it! The Crystal Heart belongs to the Crystal Kingdom, if you take it you put this entire place at risk... you put all of Equestria in danger!” Cadence shouted, stepping quickly forwards up beside Spike, and Thesis only smiled over his shoulder at her. “Don't you understand that-” “I do. I sympathize, but I'll give it back when I'm done with it.” Thesis said kindly, and without looking, he held up a hoof and blocked a thrust of Luna's spear with it, the tip of the weapon unable to make even the smallest dimple against the strange obsidian material. “Now don't be a poor sport, Valkyrie. No one likes that.” Thesis turned his smile back towards the trio, and Luna drew her spear back with a snarl as her eyes glowed, Scrivener setting himself and Twilight Sparkle gritting her teeth. On the other side of the Clockwork Pony, Spike rose his sword and Cadence's horn began to glow, as the Elements of Harmony all trembled but stood as firm as they could. And caught between two lines and two worlds, Thesis only smiled wider, his white eyes gleaming, looking as fearless as if he had planned this from the beginning... and it was all playing out towards his intended end. Top ↑